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1/2 Penny Warwickshire – Wilkinson / Barge
| Issuer | John Wilkinson |
|---|---|
| Year | 1788 |
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| Currency | Conder tokens (1787-1797) |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A full-rigged sailing vessel, depicted with three masts, furled and set sails, and detailed rigging, sailing on stylised waves to the right. The ship — representative of the river barges and cargo vessels associated with Wilkinson's iron trade — occupies the majority of the field. A toothed border runs along the coin's rim. The date 1788 appears in the lower exergue below the waterline, in plain block numerals without additional legend on this variety. |
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| Edge | Lettered |
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| Additional information |
John Wilkinson issued his famous ironmaster's tokens partly out of genuine commercial need — small change was chronically scarce in industrial Britain during the 1780s — but also as unabashed self-promotion. He was known as "Iron Mad Wilkinson," a man who reportedly requested burial in an iron coffin and had iron pipes laid on his estate for no practical reason beyond demonstrating his product. His tokens circulated widely across the West Midlands metal trades, accepted at his own ironworks as wages and by local merchants who trusted his credit over the Crown's neglected copper coinage.
The Barge type specifically references his inland waterway interests; Wilkinson was an early investor in the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal.